As for a potential smaller clutch fan donor. Try 78-88 3.8 g body fans. I remember the one on my 81 olds being smaller than the one on my 86 v8 olds
Unfortunately that one is 19.5”. Luckily there’s still an old yard near me for now so I have options. Thanks! Will do! It’s funny that such a trivial part became such a big hassle for me too.
Oh man, I hadn’t looked at the HAMB for a couple days. I was trying to stack up some accomplishments before I posted again, but people have been talking about fans! I hit a lot of forums to learn where to look for fans, and the muscle car guys are spending a lot of money to get date coded original fans for their big blocks. I’m glad I don’t have to do that. I went up to an old yard about 30 minutes from home and found his fan pile. It’s behind his wheel pile. I went through 30 or 40 loose fans and some more in his pulley pile Suburban. I came up with a mid 60’s Chevelle 7 blade and a late 70’s Cadillac 7 blade. Both are 18”, same as the factory 4 blade. The Cad has a slightly bent fin. The water pump hole pattern is smaller on the Chevelle fan. I think I’ll use the Chevelle fan with the Cad clutch as my pulley has the larger hole pattern. Hopefully this will be the end of the fan story, but I’ll know more when it’s all bolted together. I also scored some linkage parts. Next up, stabilize the core support, plumb, wire.
I got some stuff done over the long weekend. This summer when I was extending the fence back to the alley, I got some pushback from my wife about how I’d just stack stuff on it. I don’t have any idea what she was talking about. Next up, more wiring, more plumbing.
Family stuff has been keeping me super busy. We’ve been moving my in-laws into assisted living. I’ve been getting a little done here and there. After trying a bunch of different fan clutches, I wound up with a low profile Hayden 2947. I had to put a bushing in it to fit the Chevy water pump. The fan is still in the shroud rather than half in, half out. If it runs hot, I’ll either trim the shroud or get the short 348/409 shroud somewhere. I trimmed the threaded rod on the brake booster and got the pedal geometry sorted. I think that’s good, but I’ll find out when I drive it. I changed out my bulkhead connector for a more appropriate one. I needed the spot for a larger pin for my main power. I found a really pretty aluminum adapter for my moon steering wheel. The only problem was the mounting holes for the canceling bracket were in the wrong spot. Aluminum drills and taps easy. I mounted my Moon wheel, my SW tach, and wired the majority of the motor and dash. I still need to run grounds. The dangling wires are dome light, accessory power that I’ll run my air ride ECU with (I won’t talk about that too much) and ground wires. I was going to run a one wire alternator, but figured out how to run my Gen light with a 3 wire instead. That took some rework. Next up, grounds, loom, better looking cable straps. I’m on the fence with wire loom. The corrugated stuff is easy to use but kinda ugly. I’m not finding enthusiasm for wrapping it all with tape factory style. The mesh tube seems like it’ll hold dirt and grease. My wiper motor is currently somewhere near Chicago getting rebuilt. It’ll be expensive, but I didn’t want to spend a ton of time learning and sourcing parts to do it myself. We finally got some snow.
You're getting a lot done! Your tach is the crown jewel of the dashboard. Really cool to look in a car and see correct vintage gauges. So many miss the mark in this area, you nailed it.
Also, I have a pair of Appliance wheels. The old style caps are metal and clip on. But the newer plastic caps are retained by a plastic threaded insert from the back side of the wheel. Usually, the inserts are busted up from improper removal. Well, I had a guy 3D print some good replacements using a lightweight aerated style material. Little brass threads for a set screw. These are in case I ever find a set of front 15x6 front runners. Let me know if you need a set of these.
3 wire alternator with a light in the dash is the superior setup in my opinion, that's what I run in my '57. Dash looks great! And it wouldn't be difficult to lop an inch off of the fan shroud if need be, although I don't really understand the airflow dynamics to know why it wouldn't work like you have it. It seems like that should be the ideal depth.
Thanks for the compliment! I love vintage gauges. I’ve been really eager to finally mount the tach. Unfortunately your center cap retainer pics didn’t show on my work computer or my phone. I’ve only got one center cap at this point. Luckily the threaded plastic insert is intact. I’m curious to see your pics if you manage to get them working! I don’t know enough about airflow either. Everyone says half in, half out, so that’s what I was aiming for. You’re right, trimming won’t be too bad if I have to. Summer will tell…
Unsure what's going on with the pics. Does anyone else see them? They show up for me. @lothiandon1940 ? I can help you out with some caps & retainers.
I will be using this shrink tube to bundle my wiring: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B2WFDFJ5?smid=AKIJ435WAXXE9&th=1
I’ll check that stuff out. The corrugated stuff reminds me of my 90’s Hondas. I liked them, but…. I need to geek out on wire covering this weekend and get a plan together. I’m making it too nice and putting stank on the Stinko! Now the pics work! Those printed parts look like a great solution. I may bug you for some if I wind up using the Appliance wheels. There’s more 14” Steelspokes for sale about two hours away, but weather has been bad and I’ve been busy. My current fantasy is finding a set of used 14x7 reverse Supremes on Marketplace or CL (if anyone still uses it) when we take the kids to SF over spring break. They’re non existent up here and the Bay Area always used to have good stuff for sale. I wonder if I can take them as carry on?
I got all my underdash grounding done. Just need to do the engine grounds. I’ve ordered a few kinds of wire loom to play with, so I’ll have to make a choice. I got my wiper motor back from Steve Hackel. It’s really well done. I still need to finish wiring it. I wanted to see it in place. My buddy fired his 307 swapped S10 today. I was hoping to beat him.
It’s a rebuild on the two speed I pulled from the ‘59. My ElCo had a single speed. I had it rebuilt because it was stuck when I bench tested it.
I got some garage time this weekend. I redid the heater hoses, tightened up a bunch of stuff, improved the pump to carb hard line, and other little things. I filled the coolant system. It’s seeping from my chrome thermostat housing. I got one with the o ring, but I guess that’s not good enough…. The driver’s exhaust manifold had a stud break out of the side of its hole while I was snugging things up. I’ve got another, but it’s a bummer to break a vintage part. I started it anyway. It sounds good, but shuts down. I think I need to mess with the carb and check the fuel pressure. My GoPro and the LED lights in the car tent don’t like each other. I’m pretty busy the next couple weeks, but then I’ll set aside an afternoon and try to get it to smooth out.
So, I was sitting on the couch pondering my motor, and the light bulb slowly flickered on. What a dumbass. I did this once before on a 327; it took me a week to figure out. This time it was only 27 hours….
Yes, there should be a plug at the base of the carb. Big fat vacuum leak. It’s on the back, so *apparently* it’s easy for me to overlook.
The Jalopy Journal
